Everyone I had spoken to who had travelled around Guatemala before all said the same thing: Lake Atitlán is the most beautiful place they have ever visited. I can confirm, I whole-heartedly agree…

Lake Atitlán is the deepest lake, (approx. 300m deep), in Central America and is nestled between 3 volcanos. Around the lake there are 12 towns and the first one we visited was Panajachel. It seemed like a place that was very much geared towards tourists. There were market stalls with a lot of somewhat tacky souvenirs, touristy knick-knacks and traveller appealing activities. We arrived quite late so immediately headed off for dinner and drinks. I made everyone go to this bar, Simoneta Mixology Cantina, that I had found on Insta. We arrived and immediately we all agreed that this was the coolest bar we’d been to. It has the feeling of a ruin bar in Budapest, with low lighting and writing all over the walls. The barman asked us all what type of drinks we liked and made us each a cocktail based on our answers. The music was blaring, the barman was doing up magic with the cocktails, we left our mark on the wall and tried cusha – the vibes were truly immaculate.

The next morning, a small group of us decided to head over to Santiago Atitlán which was a 30 minute trip by boat. When we arrived, we met a guy who offered to show us around the main sites. We jumped in a tuktuk and headed straight to the main attraction: Maximón. This rum drinking, chain smoking God is known as the ‘God of the Sinners’. It’s believed in Mayan culture that anyone, even sex workers and drug dealers, could go to him and their prayers would be answered. Maximón is moved from house to house each year and serves as a source of income for the home that houses him as it’s 10 quetzales, (£1), to see him. I’m not entirely sure what he’s made from, probably some kind of wood, but during the ceremony we saw, Maximón drank two bottles of Quetzalteca and a lit cigarette did not leave his mouth. I felt rude taking pictures but I’m so glad I went to see it. It’s so interesting to see Mayan traditions living on despite how hard they had been repressed.

After, we headed to the lookout point on San Pedro where you get the most breathtaking view of the lake then onto Parque de la Paz. Guatemala endured a 36 year long Civil War from 1960 to 1996. At one stage, the army took over Santiago Atitlán and the people went out in protest against it. This lead to a massacre which left 13 people dead, the youngest being just 5 years old. They have a mass on the 2nd of every month in remembrance and the park is a memorial to those who died.

Our final stop was a Catholic church that was built on sacred Mayan land, but since the 1900s it has served for both Catholic and Mayan ceremonies. We said our goodbyes to our guide, (I’m so annoyed that I can remember his name but he was great!), and headed to La Casa del Mundo for lunch and a swim in the lake.

Finally, it was time to head to San Juan la Laguna. Here we were introduced to our home-stay family and headed off. We were paired with Guillermo and Lola and, oh my gosh, they were the absolute cutest couple. We made, (read: failed to make), tortillas with Lola and ate our tragic tortillas whilst chatting to them over dinner with one of their daughters and grandsons. A few more of their kids came over and it was just so beautiful so see how close they all were. I was a little apprehensive about the home-stay initially, (part and parcel of being black), but when we signed their guest book, there were pages and pages of signatures from people from all over the world over the 10 years+ that they’ve been doing home-stays. This forms part of the cooperative that they are part of to ensure families directly benefit from the tourism coming through San Juan la Laguna.

Our time in San Juan la Laguna was filled with visiting various cooperatives, including a honey one, chocolate one and textile one. We also went to a Té Mezcal, which is essentially like a sauna with eucalyptus leaves and aloe vera. Eventually, we had to say goodbye to our Mayan Mum and Dad and make the journey back to Antigua. Once there, it was time to say goodbye to the group, our guide, my new friends and Central America.